Completed Project: Throw Rug #1

Yippeeeeeeeee!!!!!! The first of my Christmas throw rugs for my nieces and nephews is finished! I was so excited to finish this one as it was quite different from other blankets I have made.



I realised that I hadn't made the inside section big enough (and he is only a small 3 year old) so I did quite a wide border which I think is quite effective.

So here's the full image for you to see.

I'm very proud of this little speckled blanket.
(even if the photography could be a bit better)

Weekend:: Part 2 - Lunch with friends

My life pretty well consists of going to work, coming home, spending time with the kids, cooking, cleaning and sometimes the odd outing to the bike park or down the beach. I rarely do any socialising these days but this weekend has been BUSY!



First it was a night out with the girls on Saturday night then Sunday dawned absolutely BEAUTIFUL and it was off to Scarborough and Redcliffe to meet up with another friend.



Little Miss R had been quite ill the night before but the prospect of a trip to the beach brightened her quite a bit. We knew she still wasn't feeling well when she wouldn't eat her calamari for lunch and she NEVER says no to calamari. So hubby and the kids had a fish and chips for lunch in the park at Scarborough before they dropped me off at the Ambassador Hotel to meet up with friends for a late lunch.

It was just the most beautiful day. The skies were clear of clouds and the bluest of blue. The water looked so lovely and inviting and seeing the families out and about picnicking and barbequeing in the parks was an absolute joy.

Darling hubby took kids off for a bit of a drive and a play in the park while I caught up with friends. What a feast for lunch! I indulged a bit and didn't do the diet any good this week I can tell you but the Oysters Kilpatrick were pretty divine. I've had a hankering for them lately so was overjoyed when I saw them on the menu.

I decided a burger or a huge main meal would have been a bit much for me after having oysters as well and had thought about a salad. In the end I indulged and got the pickers plate which consisted of a few deep fried morsals that I could sit and pick at while chatting. Not good for the waist line and the salad probably would have been a better choice but hey ho!

We drove along the esplanade and over the bridge to take the LONG way home. Unfortunately the day was a bit much for Little Miss R who became sick again and was quite miserable by the time we got home.

As it was such a beautiful day, I indulged in some rare quiet time late in the afternoon sitting in my favourite spot outside. Having a nice chilled chardonnay on a beautiful day and indulging in some quiet hooking time while Master M runs around was just the perfect end to a busy but lovely weekend.

Miss T's blanket is coming along very well and stay tuned as I've finished Master R's blanket and will show you very soon.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.

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Weekend:: Part 1 - A night out with the girls

Mooloolaba beach at 6pm where we were meeting the other girl's for our night out. It was such a beautiful evening. The weather was perfect, people were still swimming in the surf, families were playing on the beach or cooking dinner on the barbeques that line the parks beside the beach.








Then it was deciding on what we wanted for dinner and which of the numerous restaurants along the esplanade we would try. We ended up at Augellos, a fantastic Italian pizza and pasta restaurant in the heart of Mooloolaba which was unbelievably noisy but fantastic none the less.

Our table was at the side of the restaurant and looked over the road to the beach and the famous 'loo with a view'.

Dinner was absolutely delicious with a few different meals consumed. I loved my lamb calzone with marinated mushrooms, tomato and baby spinach. How divine it was! The other girls loved their various seafood pastas and dishes as well so it was a great choice for food.

The company was fantastic with lots of chatting, laughing and just general catching up. We worked out that it's been 6 years (shock horror!) since the 4 of us had been together on our own without families etc around.

Mooloolaba is a great place to people watch so after dinner we headed back downstairs to another cafe for after dinner coffee, more conversation and plenty of people watching (which fuelled many interesting conversations!)

What some people wear is unbelievable and it showed we don't go out much these days when we were mesmerised by some of the sights. Ladies, when dressing up for a night out it really does pay to wear something flattering. OMG! The amount of women that obviously spent AGES getting ready only to be wearing something that really wasn't very flattering on them was unbelievable.

Men, please wear pants that fit properly.

A must to visit when I'm in Mooloolaba is my favourite shop Sapien Arts.

It's a very exotic shop of artefacts, jewellrey, material etc from around the world. It's a feast for the eyes and I virtually drool each time I visit this shop.

Being a mum who doesn't go out anymore I found that I couldn't stay out too late so was home by 10.30pm to a sick Little Miss R and a grumpy Master M... but more on that another day.

Three things:: In my Salon

#1. My very decadent mirror with the roses along the top. I get lots of comment from people about this mirror.

#2. My wax pot. What beauty salon would be complete without a wax pot. It's a must for us women who don't wish to walk around like gorilla's really isn't it!

#3. Candles. They set the most beautiful, warm, welcoming atmosphere. There's nothing easier to help you relax than lighting a few candles and turning out the lights. Massages and facials just aren't complete without a few candles burning in the background.

Morning Coffee

I find that nothing gives me much more pleasure than being able to sit down at morning tea time with a cup of coffee. No instant coffee here, it has to be espresso with lots of yummy milk to make a creamy coffee for my taste buds.

I hate being rushed into drinking coffee too as it's usually my only one of the day (I drink tea the rest of the time). Coffee is something I love to savour and I will admit that I don't always get the chance to enjoy it fully, especially when I'm at work.

I have lots of thoughts running through my head at the moment so have been fortunate enough to spend a little time writing in my journal and looking at some blogs while having my morning coffee in my favourite mug at work.

Aaaahhh coffee. It can be like a mini holiday in a mug sometimes.

The end of a long weekend

Monday dawned beautiful but very HOT. After a couple of photos of the lovely blooms in the gardens of the motel, it was off to the real estate before heading home.





Master M's face is very sore and we had a very interrupted sleep because he kept crying out 'My face' during the night. The poor mite has been in a bit of pain.

This is the block of land we've put our name on. The contracts aren't available yet as they have to finish the road in front of the next lot of blocks to be developed. It's a couple of acres of flat ground with some bushland at the back so we're happy with it and will now wait for the next step in the buying process.

Then it was the 4 hour drive home with just a few toilet stops for Little Miss R this time. (Dad coped much better on the drive home).

It was nice to get home to our little house because it was about 37 degrees celcius so the heat was nearly unbearable. We put the air con on at home, unpacked then got down to doing some lazy things for the rest of the afternoon.

Not surprisingly, a huge storm started to build up and cooled everything down so we were at least able to sleep well. Aren't those storm clouds pretty amazing!!

Chinchilla

After a pretty good night's sleep for me and not a great one for dear hubby (kids kept him up but I can sleep through most things it seems) we woke to another beautiful HOT day and headed across the road from the motel for the usual travel breaky of McDonalds. Little Miss R always calls it Old McDonalds and both kids get very excited when we go here because it's such a rare treat.

So after fuelling up on hotcakes, hash browns and orange juice (for kids) and coffee (for Mum and Dad) we set off on an hours drive across the downs past cotton and sorghum fields to the town of Chinchilla. It's the end of the bi-annual Melon festival today so things were really beginning to wind down after what seemed to be a pretty big night.

Our first stop was the park of course as it was still early enough and not too disgustingly hot for the kids to play. I hope it was because of the festival that the park was pretty dirty and that it's not like that all the time as it was a bit feral in some places I can tell you. At least the play areas were pretty clean and very well covered which was great.

Then it was driving ALL around town for a couple of hours looking at houses and blocks of land.

As we're looking at living here we're keeping our options open but we did get a pretty good feel of the place today. Not many of the houses for sale really appealed so it looks like we may be buying a block of land and building a house. The above two blocks are just some of the options available

By 1pm we were ready to find somewhere to just stop for awhile and went to a local motel where we were lucky and able to check in straight away. So it was off to our room amongst the beautiful grounds of the Great Western Motel (above) where we enjoyed the air conditioning and a not very restful afternoon. The kids were a little bit hyperactive after being in the car for so long and being confined to a small space in the motel room was not a good idea.

After letting a bit of the afternoon pass, we eventually decided that 2.30pm was a good time to get in the pool. It was shaded by the trees by then so that helped our decision and it was one of the best decisions we've made all weekend. The pool was BEAUTIFUL and we all stayed in there for well over an hour having some lovely family time. As it was early in the arvo and no one else had really checked in yet, we had the place to ourselves which was an even better bonus.

Then it was time to sit on the little verandah ourside our room to have some snacks/dinner. It's been a bit of a different day so it didn't matter if we were having a bit of a different evening and it was really lovely having some family time outside for awhile.

I do say for awhile because things didn't stay that way. I got bitten by some sort of ant on the instep of my left foot while playing hide and seek in the beautiful gardens with my kids. It's still hurting hours later but I'm not too worried about it anymore because while I was taking some photos of the gardens, the kids were running and playing then Master M face planted into the cement. The below photo is the result and doesn't seem to look as bad in the photo as it really looks.

So it's been a bit of an over-tired and very sore evening for one little man. I also find that at 7pm both my kids and my husband are asleep and I'm sitting in a relatively dark motel room wondering what to do?